


Mirror

by Misos



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Jealousy, M/M, mentions of other Vocaloids, nickname bashing, very meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:30:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4782359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misos/pseuds/Misos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaito wishes there were two of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> I've had a particular interpretation of Kaito for a while now, and I finally got around to writing something about it. I'm afraid it ended up rather disjointed, because I had a lot of ideas I wanted to get in here and I wasn't totally sure how to transition between them. It also wound up a lot more vitriolic than I'd intended. It was supposed to be entirely comedic, but then it sort of got away from me. I've been very sleep-deprived lately, so it's possible this is entirely incoherent.  
> And I don't know if this really needs to be rated M. The line between M and T confuses me.
> 
> (10/2/2015: I added one extra letter to the December 26, 2010 section to make a certain subtle joke slightly more obvious. I'm curious if anyone can find it.)

**December 4, 2009**

"Hey, Kaito! Guess what!"

Kaito looked up to see Gackpo Camui standing there with a large grin. "What?" Kaito asked irritably, wondering just what sort of subtle flirtation Gackpo was going to segue into _this_ time.

"You know the three new Vocaloids who are joining us today?" Gackpo didn't wait for a reply, instead continuing excitedly: "Well, I heard one is a Japanese man! Do you know what this means?"

Kaito wasn't _quite_ sure where this was going, but he was wary all the same. He knew Gackpo was setting him up for _something_ , and he wasn't about to play along. And so, he didn't say a word.

Gackpo stood there expectantly, and Kaito hid a smug smile as the seconds ticked by. He wasn't falling for it _this_ time. Even _Gackpo_ couldn't derive innuendo from absolute silence.

" _Right!_ " Gackpo said after about a minute of this, looking confused. An act, of course. "It means I'll actually have a peer to hang out with _other than you_! I'm looking forward to it, I can tell you! I mean, sure, I don't know anything about this guy, but he's _got_ to be an improvement!"

Kaito rolled his eyes. Oh, _that_ old ploy. "How very tsundere," he scoffed. "I'm sure you think you're adorable, Mr. Samurai, but Meiko's pulled that one with me so many times that I've become quite jaded to it."

"...What?" Gackpo gave him another look of faux-bafflement. "I have no idea what the hell _you_ think I just said, but..."

Kaito tuned him out. More excuses. They couldn't change the fact that Gackpo wanted him and anyone could see it – especially because _they_ all wanted him, too. Leon. Lola. Miriam. Meiko. Ann. Miku. Rin. Len. Prima. Luka. Gumi. Sonika. Kaito could easily see lust for him in every one of their eyes. Gackpo was always the most forward about it, but the others were transparent in their own ways. It was so tiresome – he couldn't even walk down the hall without being greeted with at least one horribly lecherous utterance of "Hello, Kaito." Sometimes, when they were feeling particularly shameless, someone would even slip in a "How are you doing?"

Gackpo was _still_ talking, something about how he "hated" Kaito and how he "wouldn't" miss him if they never talked again. Kaito heard the scare quotes, though, and he sighed to himself. He was surrounded by perverts.

But that wasn't even the worst of it. The _worst_ part, the part that kept him awake at night, was that one crushing irony. For there was _another_ person who wanted Kaito, someone who wanted him more than all the others combined, and it was the one who could never _truly_ have him, however much Kaito himself wanted it to be so.

And that person's name was Kaito. For that was what he wanted most in the world: to be able to touch that perfect body he saw in the mirror without actually _feeling_ that touch himself. Kaito wanted to look down into his own eyes, see his own lips move, and hear in his own voice: "Fuck me, Kaito." It was a simple wish, but an impossible one, and the constant advances of the others only rubbed this in.

At that moment, Gackpo's tone of voice changed, startling Kaito from his brooding. He looked up to see Gackpo pointing to the door at one end of the large Vocaloid-filled room they were standing in.

Sure enough, a trio was emerging from it. The two girls immediately headed for Miku, leaving the man standing alone. He was too far away for Kaito to make out his face, but he could tell by his posture that he was terrified.

Gackpo left Kaito's side immediately without a word.

The man seemed to tense up even more when he saw a samurai coming in his direction, and he turned his head back and forth as if looking for a place to hide. There was none. He looked to be on the verge of hysteria by the time Gackpo reached him, and Kaito watched as Gackpo said something he couldn't quite understand from where he was standing. The man visibly relaxed and spoke in a voice so quiet that Kaito couldn't even tell what his vocal type was.

Kaito stared at the two of them as they conversed, the newcomer appearing less and less nervous by the minute. His voice stayed inaudible – right up until Gackpo made some short remark, and he laughed quite clearly.

Kaito's entire body stiffened. _No way_. His heart leapt at this sudden turn of events, and he all of a sudden found himself striding purposefully towards the pair. His heart beat even faster as he got a better look at the man and did some mental arithmetic: _This guy – glasses + blue hair dye = <3_

He was nearly as tall as Gackpo, though, Kaito now noticed with dismay. In fact, he looked to be about half a foot taller than Kaito himself. This complicated things. _But_ , as long as they were _both lying down_...

The man caught sight of him just then and jumped. "Oh! Er, hello. Who are you?"

 _That voice_. Kaito shivered. It was _so close_. "I am Kaito," he said smoothly. _You are Kaito_ , he wanted to add. But no. He had to start the conditioning gradually.

"It's nice to meet you, Kaito. My name is Kiyoteru Hiyama." He bowed, but Kaito barely noticed, being rather too preoccupied with the thrill of hearing his name spoken in such a voice.

 _Kiyoteru's_ name, though... Yes, it could fit. It was getting there, at least. "I am going to call you Kiyo," Kaito announced.

Kiyoteru looked taken aback. "But... That's not my name. Some of my friends call me Teru, but nobody – "

" _I am going to call you Kiyo,_ " Kaito repeated, this time with an underlying threat in his voice. "Teru" was not to be considered. "Kiyo" would be much easier to morph – just add an "a" and a "t" and...

"What are you up to, Kaito?" Gackpo asked suspiciously. "You're being even weirder than usual."

"None of your business!" Kaito said airily. "This is between myself and Kiyo."

"What?" Kiyoteru seemed alarmed. "'This'? What's 'this'? I don't even know you, and my _name_ is – "

Kaito tuned him out again, like he always did when people said things he didn't like. He focused instead on his exciting and rapidly-developing scheme. Or at least, he _tried_ to focus on it, but then Gackpo began speaking sharply:

" _Wherever_ you're going with this, Kaito – I don't even want to know – you'd better leave Teru _alone_."

Kaito crossed his arms. "Jealous now, are we, Gackpo?"

"I just might be!" Gackpo shot back.

 _That_ struck Kaito dumb. Was Gackpo _seriously_ admitting outright, after all this time...?

"I mean, we were getting along pretty well before you barged in with your nonsense!" Gackpo continued, and then Kaito saw it all.

"Ah, you're going after _him_!" Kaito laughed bitterly. "I should have known! If you can't get _me_ , then there's always the knockoff!"

Gackpo stared. "Okay, _now_ what are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on." Kaito pointed at Kiyoteru. "Anyone can see that he's basically me with glasses and less personality!"

Kiyoteru flinched, looking simultaneously hurt and bewildered.

Gackpo grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Shut up, Kaito! _I_ think he's cute! In other words, _nothing like you at all._ "

Kaito narrowed his eyes at both of them, trying to calculate his next move. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a next move, so he turned on his heel and stomped away.

But he couldn't stomp away quickly enough to avoid hearing, in a voice jarringly like his own, "Y – You think I'm cute?!"

– – –

**December 26, 2010**

Kaito opened an eye, then closed it again. He didn't want to get up today. Kiyoteru and Gackpo were releasing that stupid song about their sex life, and Kaito would rather not hear it. He pulled the sheets over his head and agonized over how _absolutely nowhere_ he'd gotten with Kiyoteru over the course of the past year. He hadn't even gotten to see him with his _glasses_ off. He'd tried taking Kiyoteru by surprise and pulling them off on one occasion when Gackpo wasn't around to stop him, but he'd only been stopped by Miki instead. She'd warned him that "something terrifying" would happen if they came off, which Kaito thought had to be the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

 _Gackpo_ , meanwhile, had gotten to such places with Kiyoteru that every Vocaloid around knew all too well that this song of theirs was autobiographical. Kaito shuddered. Disgusting song. In fact, it was _so_ "disgusting" that he had stolen copies of the VSQ and instrumental from their rooms while they were elsewhere, converted the VSQ to a VOCALOID MIDI file, and covered both parts himself. The result had brought tears to his eyes, in a good way. He was sure _their_ version would be lackluster in comparison.

Kaito wondered whether he should just stay in his room. He really wanted to, but he _knew_ that Kiyoteru and Gackpo would be on a PDA kick all day, and the idea of them doing that without Kaito around to at _least_ glare at them disapprovingly was more than he could bear. He sat up, sighing heavily. It bothered him _so much_ , the sure knowledge that Gackpo made Kiyoteru wear a blue wig behind closed doors. True, he hadn't found any such thing on the many occasions he'd snooped through their rooms (though he _had_ found some other things that had scarred him for life), but Gackpo was insidious. Of course he'd know how to hide something like that.

Kaito jumped out of bed and stared at himself in his full-length mirror. He always slept naked for the purpose of doing exactly this. Did _Kiyoteru_ look this good? He doubted it very much. Gackpo would no doubt be crushed if he ever realized just how feeble of an imitation his so-called boyfriend was.

Which wasn't to say that Kaito wasn't still jealous. Feeble though Kiyoteru might be, he was the closest thing Kaito was ever going to get to indulging his fantasies. He sighed into the mirror, fogging up the glass slightly. If only he could breathe inches away from that face without fogging up _anything_. He grabbed the mirror and, as he did every morning, kissed it passionately. It was hollow, but it was something. If _only_ he could feel actual lips, identical to his own, rather than this hard, unforgiving surface...

– – –

Kaito emerged from his room, having finished his morning routine – which involved doing a lot more with the mirror than kissing – and was dismayed to see Kiyoteru and Gackpo right there down the hall, before he'd even had time to mentally prepare himself for their presence. They were talking to Miku, and none of the three seemed to have noticed Kaito approaching.

"I don't know," Miku was saying. "Do I _have_ to hear this song? Is there some way I can get out of it? Because I'd rather not hear about what you two do in bed."

Kaito couldn't agree more. Miku talked sense sometimes.

"Ah, but that's the thing!" Gackpo said cheerfully, putting an arm around Kiyoteru's waist and making Kaito seethe. "It isn't!"

"...What?" Miku asked blankly.

"I mean it's got nothing to do with us at all, actually!" Gackpo explained. "Total fiction! We made it all up! It was Teru's idea. He wanted us to be able to sing a sexy song together while still keeping our privacy. If it were all up to _me_ , I would have made the lyrics a blow-by-blow account of whatever we'd done the night before, but he wasn't going for that."

"I see..." Miku looked thoughtful. "So you _don't_ actually do any of the things you're going to be singing about?"

"Well, sometimes in a general sense," Gackpo admitted. "But the details? No. In reality, most of the time _Teru's_ the one who t – "

Kiyoteru elbowed him sharply. "Gackpo," he snapped, "you're going to completely defeat the purpose if you go around telling everyone what we actually do _anyway_."

Gackpo made an insincere-sounding apology, and Kaito stopped listening, his mind now occupied with mulling this revelation over. So, the song _wasn't_ autobiographical. That was a huge relief, and also immensely frustrating, because now the details of their activities were a terrifying void. They could be doing _anything_ , and Kaito wouldn't know about it. Not that he wanted to know, but he hated _not_ knowing just as much. For all he knew, they could _both_ wear blue wigs and call each other "Kaito" the whole time. Actually, now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure that was exactly what they did.

Kaito strode over to the others, feeling the compulsive need to stick his oar in. "Good morning, Kiyo," he said, in a dark tone that contrasted highly with his innocuous words.

Gackpo whirled around to face him. "I can't believe you're _still_ calling him that! Would you _stop_ it already?"

" _You_ can't tell me to stop," Kaito informed him coolly. "You don't _own_ him, do you? It's not your decision."

"I like to think he sort of _does_ o – " Kiyoteru began, but then he caught himself, blushing. "I mean – I mean _I_ don't like it when you call me that, either! It's weird!"

"Weirder, _Kiyo_ , than wearing a wig and contacts, putting on a scarf, and adjusting your Gender Factor so Gackpo can pretend you're me while he fucks you?" Kaito retorted incisively. Kiyoteru looked so shocked that he knew he had stumbled upon the truth.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Gackpo snarled, as the other two seemed to be speechless.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, feeling triumphant for once. "But you're not denying it, are you?"

Gackpo narrowed his eyes and looked about to say something. But then, it seemed he finally realized he was beaten, for he took Kiyoteru's arm and stalked away.

Kaito turned to Miku with a smirk. "I got him that time, didn't I?"

Miku was giving him an unreadable look. "I feel like you lose more and more of your mind every day."

Kaito waved a dismissive hand. "That's what _everyone_ says about geniuses." And he flounced off before she could say another word.

– – –

**July 13, 2012**

Kaito rolled his eyes as he saw Kiyoteru run up to give Gackpo a congratulatory embrace. A VOCALOID3 update wasn't worth all this fuss. Everyone knew that VOCALOID1 was the best engine ever, and that the further a Vocaloid got away from it, the worse their voice would become. "Such an improvement!" Kiyoteru was saying. "I love your Power voicebank!" What lies.

 _Then_ the pair began angsting again about how Gackpo was going to have to move to the V3 living quarters and they wouldn't get to see each other as often. As if that even made a difference. They were segregated by company anyway, as Kaito had heard them lament many times before. He had no sympathy, not when being with his own true love was physically impossible in this dimension. His mirror was full of cracks now from Kaito treating it so roughly. It would shatter soon, which he thought beautifully symbolized the tragedy of his romance. It really did make Kiyoteru and Gackpo's whining look trivial.

Perhaps this move would give him an opening, though. Kaito still hadn't lost hope about making Kiyoteru come around, to wear that elusive blue wig for _him_ instead of Gackpo. After all, that song from a year and a half ago had never really caught on. _Nothing_ Kiyoteru sang ever caught on, he thought smugly. Kaito's own songs, on the other hand, were always met with acclaim, which was undeniable proof that he was superior in every respect.

But the _point_ was that Kiyoteru and Gackpo were not inseparable, no matter how they acted. Kaito could split them up. He just needed a plan. Well, _another_ plan. He'd tried dozens already. But _there was a way_ , he knew, to awaken in Kiyoteru that overpowering Kaito-lust which existed deep in everyone. He just had to find it, and the added distance between Kiyoteru and Gackpo would help. It would be easier to get Kiyoteru alone, for one thing.

By now, Kaito had gleaned from things he'd overheard that Kiyoteru apparently became a different person when he took his glasses off. He wasn't exactly sure what this entailed, but he had a pretty good theory: Kiyoteru would lose his inhibitions. It would be like getting him drunk, maybe even more drastic. It suited Kaito's purposes perfectly. For when anyone lost their inhibitions, their first act would be to fling themselves at him. It was only natural.

Gackpo was dragging Kiyoteru off to see his new room now – saying something about "breaking it in", ugh – so Kaito knew he'd have to wait. But _soon_...

– – –

Kaito milled about in the Internet Co. V3 hallway. Thank _god_ the rooms were soundproof, he thought with a shudder. It was intended so that the Vocaloids could practice singing without disturbing each other, but it came in handy for other things too.

Gumi walked by just then, heading to her own room. She stopped when she saw him. "What are you doing here, Kaito?" She sounded a little flirtatious, if Kaito wasn't mistaken. And he was _never_ mistaken.

"Kiyo's in there," was Kaito's brief response. He pointed to the door marked "GACKPOID V3".

Gumi made a face. "Yes, I'm sure he is." She narrowed her eyes at Kaito. "But that _really_ doesn't explain why you're here. If you're trying to stop them from going at it or something, you're doing a very bad job."

"No, that's not it," Kaito said with a sigh. He had given up on _that_ a long time ago. There were some things even he couldn't pull off. "I'm just waiting."

"...Waiting for what?"

"Waiting for Kiyo to come out," Kaito said in a sort of patronizing tone. Really, that should have been obvious.

"Why?" Gumi looked very suspicious now. She was probably jealous.

"I am going to take off his glasses," Kaito informed her, a small amount of glee slipping into his voice. Maybe he shouldn't be telling her this, but it was such a brilliant plan that he couldn't _not_.

Gumi just stared at him, deep in thought. She seemed to come to a conclusion, and she snorted. "Good luck with _that_." She entered her room before Kaito could demand an explanation for that remark.

He leaned against the wall, concluding eventually that it was some kind of pick-up line. Perhaps she expected him to follow her. Well, he had other things to do.

What felt like hours passed. They weren't going to be in there all _day_ , were they? Kaito stubbornly decided to wait it out even if this was the case. But then he realized in dismay that if they kept this up much longer, Kiyoteru would likely be so tired out that he might not fling himself at Kaito after all, inhibitions or no inhibitions. Perhaps the glasses-removal had an energizing effect, though? Yes, that had to be the case. Otherwise Kaito would be doing something completely pointless, and Kaito never did _anything_ that was completely pointless.

At long last, Gackpo's door opened, and Kaito was thrilled to spot Kiyoteru emerging alone. His face was red and his hair was tousled – probably from wearing that wig – and when he caught sight of Kaito, he looked stricken and ashamed, as if he had just been caught red-handed in some crime. _Which he absolutely had._ "H – Hello, Kaito," he stammered, adjusting his tie self-consciously. "I was just – "

Kaito waved a hand sharply to cut him off. He didn't want to hear about it. He walked towards him purposefully and grabbed him by that tie, which had surely been replaced with a scarf only moments ago. He put his other hand on Kiyoteru's face, appreciating how similar the structure was to his own.

Kiyoteru's pupils shrank. "Wh – What are you – "

And then Kaito yanked his glasses right off his face and threw them to the ground.

Kiyoteru blinked. Then his eyes narrowed. "What do you _want_?" he spat, in a tone that sounded vaguely familiar.

"I want to f – " Kaito broke off. No. Better to seduce him more subtly. He stared up into Kiyoteru's eyes. "Look at me, Kiyo."

Kiyoteru looked at him, all right. He looked at him with a glare so quelling that Kaito almost lost a little of his confidence. "Goddammit, Kaito, I have told you a _thousand_ times, _my name isn't Kiyo_!"

Kaito was instantly cheered up. It sounded as though Kiyoteru's inhibitions had indeed left the building. "You want me," he said firmly, knowing this would unlock Kiyoteru's repressed desires.

"Yes!" Kiyoteru replied instantly. "I want you _to fuck off_!"

Kaito only registered the second-to-last word. _Finally_. That, _that_ , in Kiyoteru's voice, was _exactly_ what he wanted to hear. "Could you," he asked, in a deep, breathy voice, "maybe replace that 'off' with a 'me, Kaito'?"

Kiyoteru hit him.

Kaito stared at him in shock, rubbing his cheek, and was all of a sudden rather intimidated. This man was much taller than him, and while he wasn't exactly very muscular, neither was Kaito himself. "I – " he began, but that was as far as he got.

Kiyoteru grabbed his scarf roughly, and in a way even Kaito had to admit wasn't remotely seductive. "Listen up!" he hissed, yanking Kaito up to his eye level and very nearly choking him in the process. "I. Don't. _Like._ You. You have been harassing me for two and a half years, and I am _sick_ of it! I don't appreciate the things you say to Gackpo very much, either! If you call me Kiyo _one more time_ , or say another word about blue wigs, you're dead! _Got it?_ "

Kaito was having a hard time breathing, but even if he hadn't been, he didn't think he would have been able to form words. He glanced around desperately until he caught sight of the glasses on the floor. He needed to get those back _on_. This clearly wasn't working. With quick reflexes, he wriggled out of his scarf and dropped to the floor. He snatched up the glasses and just as quickly leapt to his feet again. He dodged another blow and rammed the glasses haphazardly onto Kiyoteru's face.

They were very askew, but it seemed to have done the trick, for Kiyoteru's eyes became wide again. He looked at the scarf in his hand for a moment. Then he gave Kaito an embarrassed look, dropped it, and fled down the hall.

Kaito grimaced as he retrieved and donned his scarf. That could have gone better.

– – –

**September 23, 2015**

Kaito trudged into the main hall that morning, remembering vaguely that there was supposed to be a new Vocaloid released today. He found that hard to concentrate on, though, what with Kiyoteru and Gackpo in the corner chatting happily about how they'd soon be on the same engine again. Did those two _never_ shut up? They'd only talked about that practically every day for the past five months. It would almost have made Kaito jealous, but he knew that there wasn't actually any difference between V3 and V4. Besides, _he_ could sing in _English_.

Still, their happy voices annoyed him so much that he walked over to them and began to complain: "You guys always talk about the same things!" he snapped. "It's really boring me!"

Gackpo stopped looking happy at once, which was exactly what Kaito had been going for. "Well, maybe if you _stopped stalking us_ , you wouldn't have this problem!"

"Stalking?" Kaito echoed, affronted. "I do not stalk. _Mayu_ stalks. I'm only keeping an eye on you, which I have every right to do given that your relationship with Kiyo is all about me in the first place!"

Kiyoteru's eye twitched. He'd taken to doing that ever since the glasses incident three years ago, and it always made Kaito a little nervous. Not nervous enough to leave him alone, though.

Gackpo opened his mouth angrily, but he never got to say anything. That was when Kaito heard it.

"Uh, hi, guys! Is this a fight or something?"

Kaito's ears pricked. This voice intrigued him slightly. Not like Kiyoteru's had, but... He turned around to face whoever had spoken.

His jaw dropped. There it was. The answer to all his prayers. And he'd thought _Kiyoteru_ looked... Why, _this_ man... A mere _color-swap_ would...

"Er, are you the new Vocaloid?" Kiyoteru was asking.

"Yeah!" said this scarlet clone. "My name is Akira Kano!"

"Hello, Kano!" Kaito stepped up to him. "My name is Kaito!"

"Hi, Kaito," Akira replied. "And you don't have to call me by my surname."

"No," Kaito agreed. "But I _want_ to." Akira looked confused, but Kaito ignored this, pointing instead to the other two. "That's Gackpo and Teru."

They mumbled greetings, then, in unison, did a double take and stared at each other. Kiyoteru mouthed something under his breath to Gackpo, and Gackpo mouthed something back.

Akira looked more confused than ever. "So... _Were_ you guys fighting?"

Kaito shrugged. "Yes, I suppose we were, but it wasn't important." He took a step closer to Akira. "I can show you around, if you want."

"That sounds – " Then Akira started and pointed to behind Kaito. "Whoa, do they do that often?"

Kaito followed his gaze. It seemed that Kiyoteru and Gackpo were kissing. How welcoming of them, he thought wryly, but he dwelled on it no more than that. "Oh, yes, they do," he said calmly. "You get used to it. It's none of our business, anyway."

And he took Akira's hand and led him away.

**Author's Note:**

> Perhaps I should have waited until September 23rd actually happened to post this, but I really felt the need to get it out now. I hope nothing unexpected happens with Akira that messes up the ending. (Not sure whether I'll add him to the tags when he's released... I'm afraid it might spoil things.)
> 
> (10/9/2015: [ I drew a sequel comic.](http://misos13.deviantart.com/art/Blue-Hair-Dye-565153343))


End file.
